


After the Dust Has Settled

by justheretobreakthings



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Post-Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 10:24:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18809269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justheretobreakthings/pseuds/justheretobreakthings
Summary: Now that the battle is over and Shiro is resting in a cryopod, everything that had occured is just a little much for Keith to handle.





	After the Dust Has Settled

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Idhren15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idhren15/gifts).



“So… what now?”

Keith posed the question in the silence that rang throughout the Black Lion after the crypod closed over Shiro - or, not Shiro - Shiro in the body of not-Shiro. It was all a lot to wrap his head around.

“Now,” Allura said. “We wait. Give Shiro’s spirit a chance to settle into its new host. Keep an eye out to make sure things go smoothly, and if they don’t go smoothly… intervene.”

“The whole thing’s wack,” Lance muttered from where he stood, leaning up against a nearby wall in exhaustion with his arms crossed.

“We’re all adults here, Lance,” said Pidge. “You can say it. It’s fucked up, is what it is.” She let out a long sigh. “Still can hardly believe it. To think, all this time, Shiro was actually just - ”

“It wasn’t Shiro,” Keith cut her off. He still stared at the face in the cryopod, scarcely daring to blink - as though if he did, Shiro would disappear. Again. “None of what happened was Shiro.”

“Well, yeah,” Pidge said. “Whatever his name is. This whole time, Shiro: the Sequel was just a plant from Haggar. Kinda answers a few questions, but, also creates a hell of a lot more new ones.”

“Do you think he knew?” Hunk asked softly. “Or, um, it? He? That he wasn’t actually… Shiro?”

Allura sighed. “It’s hard to say. I - I think it seems unlikely. He did open up to Lance about feeling strange, didn’t he? If he were aware that he was a pawn for Haggar, I doubt he would want to bring attention to any abnormalities.”

“Kinda makes it even more fucked up, to be honest,” Lance said. He sighed and straightened up from the wall. “We’re gonna be camping out here for a while until we figure out how to get the Lions back up in the air, right? Should we, like, make camp? Poke around for provisions or something?”

“Yes, yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Allura said with a nod. “Probably best to give the cryopod some space as well, at least here at the start.”

The others nodded and murmured their agreements as they got up from where they were sitting or straightened from where they were lounging, turning toward the Black Lion’s mouth to make their exit. Keith stayed where he was, eyes trained on Shiro, even as he heard someone coming up beside him. “Number Four?” Coran, then.

“I’m sorry, I - ” Keith cleared his throat. “I know we should all be pitching in, but could I just - could I stay here with Shiro, for now? Just to make sure…”

“Actually, Keith, I wasn’t going to ask you to help make camp,” Coran said. “I was going to say that we need to tend to _your_ wounds too.”

Immediately Keith’s throat went dry. The sound of footsteps along the metal floor stopped, and he could feel the eyes of the others on him. They had managed to go this long with no one pointing out the dents and soot on Keith’s armor or the state of his face, but of course it would have only been a matter of time.

And, to be fair, Keith was starting to feel it too. The adrenaline of battle had kept him going for quite a while, but the moment that cryopod closed over Shiro, he couldn’t deny that he could suddenly very much feel the effects of both their battle with Lotor and the fight with Shiro’s clone, mostly the latter. Every bruise beginning to throb, every bone aching, a sharp sting cutting across his right cheek.

But even so, Shiro was the one whose body was barely holding on to life right now. Shiro was the one who needed medical attention right now. He’d be fine. He shook his head, ignoring the way it made his brain rattle painfully against his skull, and said, “Coran, I’m f- ”

His mother cut him off. “Keith,” she said sharply. “I thought we discussed hiding your injuries.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” Keith said. “I just don’t need medical attention, that’s all.”

“I see,” said Coran. “So I suppose that burn on your face is there for aesthetic purposes?” Keith scowled. “And shall we address the fact that you have not removed your hand from over your ribs since we boarded Black?”

Keith bit his lip, further protests hovering on his tongue, but he supposed he couldn’t deny it. He let out a breath and mumbled, “I guess… I could use some help.”

Coran nodded brusquely and turned to the others. “Could one of you fetch Black’s first aid kit from the cockpit while I get Keith settled? The rest of you go on ahead, leave some space.”

“I’ll get the kit,” Hunk volunteered, hastening toward the cockpit. The others hesitated, looking uncertain, but at a dismissive wave from Coran, they took their leave.

“Come on, lad,” Coran said, putting an arm lightly around Keith and helping him to his feet. “Let’s get you sitting somewhere where I can get a good look at you.”

Keith kept his gaze on Shiro. “But I - I want to keep an eye on - ”

“I’ll be right here with Shiro,” Allura said. “You needn’t worry. I’ll alert you if there’s any change.”

“Okay, but - ” Before he could come up with any further excuses to stay, he felt a nudge against the back of his leg, and he looked down to see his wolf prodding him forward with his nose. “Fine,” he relented. “Fine, I’m coming.”

He gave the wolf a little scratch on the head as Coran led him into a new compartment, this one with a stiff cushioned bench along its wall for Keith to sit at. Coran lowered him onto the seat as Krolia sidled in behind the wolf, positioning herself next to the door as if standing guard.

“I’ll want to get a look at your torso, if you don’t mind,” Coran said. “Do you need help removing your armor?”

“No, no, it’s fine, I can do it,” Keith said. He always felt a certain level of embarrassment at receiving medical treatment, and needing help to remove his clothes would only worsen it. He pulled off his gauntlets and vambraces before pulling the breastplate over his head, trying not to grimace all the while, then started on peeling his undersuit off down to the waist.

“Hey,” Hunk’s voice came as he entered. “I got the first- holy _crap_ , Keith! What happened to you?!”

Keith could feel his face redden as he glanced down and actually got a look at the results of his fight for the first time, and it wasn’t pretty. His entire torso was an array of purple and red splotches, every hit, every blow, every rough landing leaving him mottled with bruises. Coran put two fingers on his shoulder to turn him, and from the dismayed tutting sound he made, Keith could guess that his back looked the same.

“Seriously, Keith!” Hunk said, hurrying over to Coran’s side. “What - what is all this? How come you didn’t tell us that you were hurt this bad? How did - ?”

“Hunk, if you will,” Coran interrupted. “There should be some salve in that kit in a small green-blue tub.”

“Right,” Hunk said, opening the first-aid kit.

Keith winced as he suddenly felt Coran’s fingers prodding into his side. “Hmm,” Coran said. “Don’t seem to be broken, but that is some nasty bruising.”

“Galra bones are quite resilient,” Krolia remarked. “I doubt his are as much so as a full-blooded Galra would be, but I’m sure his blood still gives him an edge.”

“Even so!” Hunk said as he passed Coran the salve. “Not like Keith came out of this unscathed! What happened in that wormhole, man? Was Haggar throwing trucks at you or what?”

“No,” Keith said.

“Well then, what the hell got you all beat up like this?”

Keith’s voice caught in his throat as he opened his mouth. His had to close it and try it again to get words to actually come out, and even when they did, they were hesitant, disjointed. “I - I don’t want - I don’t really want to - to - ”

He had to drop his gaze to his feet to avoid looking at Hunk’s wide, concerned eyes for a second longer. It was too much, too much. It hadn’t been Shiro, he knew it hadn’t been, but it had been Shiro’s face, and he couldn’t, he couldn’t talk about it, he couldn’t dare put it to words, what had happened, what the Shiro that wasn’t Shiro had done, what he had _said_ -

“I assume,” Coran said, cutting into Keith’s bullet train of thought, “That Haggar had security measures in place wherever that wormhole led, which Keith here had to deal with. Isn’t that right, Number Four?”

“... Yeah,” Keith croaked out after a moment’s pause.

“The ointment in the yellow bottle, Hunk?” Coran said. “That should do wonders to relieve the burn.”

“Oh, um, sure,” Hunk said, fishing into the kit and pulling out the bottle.

“Thank you, Number Two.” Coran unscrewed the cap. “If you’ll dab that on wherever it stings, Keith, I’ll start on the salve.”

Keith accepted the bottle as Hunk asked. “Which do you want me to help with?”

“Actually, if you would be so kind,” Coran said, “Would you fetch the spare water pouches from Black’s cockpit? This is thirsty work.”

“Of course,” Hunk said, getting to his feet with a nod.

Coran turned and watched him go. The moment Hunk was out of sight, he returned his attention to Keith’s bruises, dipping his fingers into the tub of salve and spreading it over Keith’s discolored ribs. For a few ticks they both worked in silence, until Coran softly said, “If ever you would like to talk about what actually happened out there, you needn’t hesitate.”

Keith froze, fingers turned to ice against his cheek where he was dabbing on the ointment. “I - uh, you - you said it yourself, it - it was Haggar’s security.”

“I know what I said,” Coran replied. “But I can’t help but notice the bruise on your chin.”

“On my - ”

“I’ve never known any of Haggar’s guard or drones to have a fist precisely the same size and shape as Shiro’s old prosthetic.”

Keith stared at him, but Coran’s face betrayed no emotion besides concentration on the task at hand. “It wasn’t - ” Keith swallowed back the hitch in his voice. “It wasn’t Shiro.”

“I know.”

“It wasn’t.” He didn’t know why there was a burning in his eyes, or why it was so hard to form words. “It wasn’t him.”

“Keith - ”

“I can’t - I’m sorry, I can’t - I can’t talk about - ”

The hitch in his voice became a sob, and why the quiznak was he crying _now_ of all times? Now, when it was quiet, when the ordeal was over, it was suddenly hitting him hard, everything that had happened in the past - had it been a day? Had it only been that long?

Something nudged at his palm, and the next moment the wolf was lifting his hand up with his nose, burrowing his head under it so that Keith’s hand was resting on top of his head. Absently Keith scratched his fingers into to fur, and the wolf let out a relaxed breath. “Sorry,” Keith choked out.

“No need to be,” Krolia said, and Keith nearly jumped at the realization that she had crossed the room and taken a seat beside him without him noticing. “You don’t have to talk about it yet, not if you’re not up to it.”

Coran nodded. “But when you _do_ feel ready for it,” he said, “There’s a whole team here ready to help you through it.”

“That’s - that’s nice of you to say, Coran,” Keith mumbled. “But I don’t think - ”

“Don’t you doubt for a moment that they want nothing more than to support you,” Coran said. When Keith said nothing, he sighed. “It’s been a long time on your end, hasn’t it?” he continued. “Suppose it will take some adjustment to get back into the thick of things.”

“Yeah…” Keith said softly.

“Oh - oh no.” Keith looked up at Hunk’s voice, finding him standing in the doorway, what looked to be Black’s entire emergency water supply in his arms. “Keith’s crying? What’s going on? Did one of the injuries - how - how bad is it?”

“Nothing of the sort, Number Two,” Coran said as Keith hastily wiped at his tears with the back of his arm. “Keith is just feeling rather overwhelmed at the moment.”

“Oh. Yeah, I hear that,” Hunk said with a nod. “Think some water would help?”

“Thank you, Hunk.” Coran straightened up to take one of the pouches and pass it back to Keith. “You see, Number Four,” he added quietly, head low as he made a show of helping Keith with a straw. “Your team wants to be there for you.”

“I know,” Keith replied quietly.

Coran passed him the pouch and straightened up, giving Keith a squeeze on the shoulder. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” Keith mouthed.

**Author's Note:**

> Want a mini fic from me to you? I'm writing one-shots for anyone who writes a fic or makes art that features aro/ace Keith, and tags me in it @justheretobreakthings on tumblr!


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